DIY from the ground up by recycling, then building
There is a movement under way to build houses cheaply and reuse materials in their composition, and often these goals can be achieved simultaneously. The third trend you will hear about in innovative housing is the substitution of inexpensive, locally sourced, natural materials for new products manufactured for use in the building trade. This can be an expensive project and you can benefit from Payday Loan assistance, just check the available rates and make sure you get the best deals for you.
This alternative approach to living in identical flats, row housing, or subdivisions is gaining popularity when the scarcity of affordable housing confronts environmentalists’ recycling cravings. It became clear that much of what we throw away (scrap metal and wood, architectural remains, shipping materials such as wooden pallets and even entire carriages) can be converted into usable housing, as residents in slum cities have known for decades. .
When determined amateurs and professional architects alike develop a desire to reduce rather than multiply the environmental consequences of commerce on the planet, they begin build a house like this, showcasing the fertility of the human imagination in design and thrift. This single photo essay features homes ranging from £180 to £25,000, and includes:
Earthbag houses, which require you to fill your own sandbags and pile them up to build.
Solar cabin, which is small and can generate all the electricity it uses with solar panels.
That a house built from cobs, which combines raw earth with sand and straw and can be used to form something like a concrete wall, which survives even in Western European climates. We know because it is a very old building material.
Caravans are converted into sessile residences, which usually gives the builder the advantage of immunity from local housing codes because it’s not technically a house. Find an old one or build your own from the ground up, either way Zyl Vardos.
The famous Hobbit House of Wales, was built underground using trees as supporting members. Make sure you own the land before starting a similar project.
Hay bale house (several packages are offered here).
Inhabited containers, for families who are not homeless because the wheels are gone. Oddly enough, this option is the most expensive, but in comparison with conventional housing it is still quite inexpensive.
Building style from the last century
Green Roof
You’ve noticed certain themes in the housing above: builders often return to older, even primitive methods and materials that are still cheap, durable, and protect the occupants. Take green roofs, for example– this is the latest brilliant idea from the University of Sheffield’s Landscape Department, but grass roofComposed of birch bark and earth, it has sheltered Norwegian homeowners with waving grasses, flowers and even small trees since prehistory.
adobe
This classic mud brick from the American Southwest makes for excellent insulation and sturdy construction. The author of The Owner Built Adobe House recommends making your own bricks from diluted clay (such as one containing sand or loam) plus extra sand, straw, and treated bitumen, mimicking an ancient Babylonian technique for waterproofing bricks.
Wattle and daub
This technique has been widely used in the British Isles since the Bronze Age, and its value as an earthquake-resistant mode of construction is now being appreciated in seismically active regions of South America. Wattles and daubs are renewed using renewable vegetation such as bamboo or sugarcane.
Yurts
Yurts, a type of portable log house, originated with horse-tapping nomads in Central Asia (if a country’s name ends with -stan, you’ll probably see yurts outside cities). The steam-bent wood components are assembled, then covered with a layer of durable cloth. The original builders used flannel made from their sheep, which insulates and repels moisture.
Today’s yurts often take their technology from the sturdier type of tent, and Americans have ventured to change the traditional shape of the yurt to a more conical shape with a flatter roof, suitable for immovable living quarters. Every ancient building style imaginable has been revived for the benefit of today’s DIY community, meaning you can pick your favorite from the pool of human endeavor wisdom to date.
